Jeff Rutherford: The German Army on the Eastern Front: An Inner View of the Ostheer's Experiences of War

Heimat: roughly translates as ‘home’. Dual meaning that referred both to one’s country, as well as one’s home region or town. German soldiers could therefore argue that they fought for multiple ‘homes’ during the war.

Hilfswillige: volunteer, literally ‘willing to help’. Denotes Soviet citizens and primarily prisoners of war who served in the ranks of the German army during the war.

Jagdkommando: special ad hoc units assembled by various German formations to carry out anti-partisan sweeps.

Kaiserheer: Unofficial name for the German army between 1871 and 1918. Official names were the ‘ Deutsche Heer ’ (German Army) and the Reichsheer (Imperial Army).

Manneszucht: Older German term for discipline, mainly used in the military arena, connecting discipline to masculinity.

Reichsführer-SS: Created in August 1934 as highest rank of the SS.

Reichswehr: German armed forces of the Interwar Period, officially renamed Wehrmacht on 1 June 1935.

Weltanschauung: A belief system (literally: world view) usually used to denote an ideological programme.

Winterhilfswerk: Winter Relief of the German People. This was an annual charitable collection carried out by the Nazi state to help finance the state-run charity, the National Socialist People’s Welfare Organization.

Volk: roughly translates as ‘people’, though it has multiple meanings. During the Third Reich, the term was used to denote an ‘ethnic people’ who constituted a distinct nation with equality of all members ( Volksgemeinschaft ). Linked to notions of rootedness in the soil and thus permanence.

Divisional commander: Responsible for the command and condition of the division.

Command section ( Führungsabteilung )

Ia : First General Staff Officer and deputy of the divisional commander (staff above the divisional level had a separate deputy commander, the Chief of Staff). Supported the divisional commander in the deployment and command of the division and led the staff work of the divisional staff. Supported by the O1 (First Ordonnance Officer), who wrote the divisional war diary and kept the command papers (i.e. maps) updated.

Ic : Third General Staff Officer. Responsible for Intelligence and Counter-intelligence, but also for troop care until the creation of a special troop welfare staff officer ( Divisions-Betreuungs-Offizier ). Supported by the O3 (Third Ordonnance Officer) and one or more interpreters.

The command section also included the divisional map section, a motorcycle platoon and officers advising the divisional commander about their arms, such as the commander of the artillery regiment for artillery questions.

Personal group of divisional staff section ( Adjutantur )

IIa : Divisional adjutant, responsible for personnel affairs of the division’s officers .

IIb : Responsible for personnel affairs of the rank and file as well as for the divisional staff office.

III : Divisional martial court. Also worked on requests for judicial assistance from civil courts, i.e. divorces.

Filing department ( Registratur ): Responsible for receiving and distributing orders and other documents and administering classified files.

Commander of the divisional headquarter ( Kommandant des Stabsquartiers ): Responsible for exploring, establishing and securing the divisional headquarter and command post.

Quartermaster Section ( Quartiermeisterabteilung )

Ib : Second General Staff Officer, responsible for the complete logistical affairs of the division, including supply, POW transfer to rear installations, management of traffic and air protection in the rear area. Supported by the O2 (Second Ordonnance Officer).

Ib/WuG : Officer for weapons and equipment, responsible for supply and maintenance of weapons, ammunition and equipment except for special equipment such as that of engineers or medical services.

Ib/Kfz (or V ): Divisional engineer, responsible for motor vehicle park, including spare parts and fuel supply.

IVa : Divisional intendant, responsible for supply of rations, fodder, clothes and individual equipment. Also responsible for gaining resources from occupied territory.

IVb : Divisional physician. Responsible for the deployment of the medical units, transport and care of wounded, hygiene and preventive measures for the troops and possibly civilians in the divisional area, supply of medical equipment.

IVc : Divisional veterinary, responsible for divisional horses, the butcher company and for food safety.

IVd : Chaplain ( K = Catholic, P = Protestant, depending on the division’s origins). Spiritual care for the troops.

IVz : Divisional paymaster, responsible for the field pay office.

With the quartermaster section were also the Divisions-Nachschubführer ( Dinafü ) (divisional supply leader) with his staff, the leaders of the baggage trains, and the divisional Army Postal Master.

Note: the numbers given of men and material are authorised strengths. After the start of the war in the East, most units never approached these strengths again. From 1942 on, most units reached only 50-75% of the authorised manpower strength. The same was true with material, but here numbers of tanks were often lower due to maintenance problems.

Note: The Luftwaffe (Air Force) and the Kriegsmarine (Navy) had a similar structure to the Army, but while the Luftwaffe used more or less the same names, the Kriegsmarine had very different rank names for traditional reasons.

OA/FA: Offizieranwärter (Army)/Führeranwärter (SS) = Ranks for Officer candidates.

General [1]

Oberfähnrich [2]

Feldwebel [3]

Soldat [4]

Note: We gratefully thank Dr Marco Sigg for offering us pictures from his private archive.